COVID-19 cases in Pakistan touch 3,277, Punjab province worst hit

Islamabad, Apr 06: The number of the coronavirus cases in Pakistan on Monday reached 3,277 with the infections in the worst-hit Punjab province approaching 1,500 despite government claims that the ongoing lockdown in the country has slowed down the spread of the deadly virus.

Ministry of National Health Services said that 50 patients have so far died of the disease, while 257 people have recovered.

Punjab recorded 1,493 cases, Sindh 881, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 405, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) 210, Balochistan 191, Islamabad 82 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 15.

Chief of the National Command and Operation Centre Asad Umar on Sunday said that the pace of coronavirus spread is slowing down in the country due to effective lockdown measures.

Umar, who is the Minister for Planning, said that the government was developing a mechanism to identify areas with most coronavirus cases to undertake preventive measures.

The government was taking steps to curtail the spread of the virus but without much success. The National Coordination Committee headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan meets every day to evolve the response to the threat.

The government also set up a National Command and Operation Center to implement the decisions made by the committee.

The Pakistan government on Saturday informed the Supreme Court that the number of coronavirus patients in the country could reach up to 50,000 by the last week of this month.

The number of cases increasing at a rapid pace in Punjab could become a cause of concern for the government as it is also the wealthiest region of the country.

Meanwhile, the government said the process for provide financial support to the poor affected by the lockdown during the coronavirus crisis would commence on April 8.

The government has announced to provide Rs 12,000 (USD 157.7)assistance to 12 million families each, while Punjab and Sindh have decided to contribute funding for the assistance of additional 700,000 and 250,000 people, respectively.